Help needed now at the gas pump

March 13, 2012

Somewhere, over the rainbow ... That ought to be President Barack Obama's new slogan. "Hope and change" just isn't believable anymore.

Obama once again demonstrated his separation from reality last weekend, in telling Americans we really shouldn't be worrying about high gasoline prices.

Why, by 2025, cars averaging 55 miles per gallon of gasoline will be available in U.S. showrooms, Obama assured us - thanks to his administration's higher standards for fuel efficiency.

"That means folks will be able to fill up every two weeks instead of every week, saving the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump over time. That's a big deal," the president said in his weekly radio address.

But $4 a gallon gasoline is a big deal right now. And Obama, through actions such as blocking the Keystone XL pipeline and drilling in new areas of the United States, is forcing gasoline prices even higher during the next few years. Never mind about 2025.

It also seems to have escaped the president's notice that ultra-high mileage cars such as the Chevrolet Volt are not affordable for most American families. They can't afford to save money on fuel, in effect.

A variety of actions, ranging from more domestic drilling to encouraging coal liquefaction, could ease fuel prices sooner than 2025. But Obama isn't interested. He would prefer unrealistic technologies that, at some point over the rainbow, may help.